placeholder
noun
place·hold·er
ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər 
plural placeholders
1
: a person or thing that occupies the position or place of another person or thing
The bill would empower the governor to appoint a placeholder to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, to serve through the next general election cycle.—
John Sharp
John SharpThe result was that the legislation represented little more than a placeholder to put the budget before a conference committee …—Carl Ingram
Carl Ingram2
: a symbol in a mathematical or logical expression that may be replaced by the name of any element of a set
3
American football
: a player who places and holds the ball upright on the ground for placekicking of a field goal
Examples of placeholder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The new slayer is being called Nova, but according to TVLine, this name is a placeholder and not the character's actual name.
—Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
But the rest of the lineup is basically filled with role players who are serving as placeholders until the farm system can produce better major leaguers.
—Jim Bowden, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Include placeholders for variable information and guidance notes for my team on when and how to customize each template.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
In Trump's 2017 National Mall permit, the same placeholder figure was sent to his inaugural committee.
—Tim Reid, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for placeholder
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
But the rest of the lineup is basically filled with role players who are serving as placeholders until the farm system can produce better major leaguers.
—Jim Bowden, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
Include placeholders for variable information and guidance notes for my team on when and how to customize each template.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
In Trump's 2017 National Mall permit, the same placeholder figure was sent to his inaugural committee.
—Tim Reid, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for placeholder
Cite this Entry
“Placeholder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placeholder. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
placeholder
noun
place·hold·er
ˈplās-ˌhōl-dər
: a symbol used in mathematics in the place of a numeral not yet known
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share